Democrats Need Clearance To Move Up 2004 Primaries

State Politics

The Democratic Party of Virginia is trying to move up its 2004 primary date so the Old Dominion can be a player in selecting the next Democratic presidential candidate.

The only problem is that to conduct the primary on the first Tuesday of February 2004, the party needs to get the Republican-controlled General Assembly to allow the move.

The first Tuesday in February is the earliest that the Democratic National Committee will allow states to conduct primaries, preserving the roles of the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucuses.

The party hopes that candidates will campaign heavily in Virginia, looking for a boost in the early stages of the nomination process.

A potential benefactor of an early primary date in Virginia could be U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. Two of Edwards' top political aides helped steer Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner to victory last year, recapturing the support of rural Democrats with the help of a bluegrass song that billed Warner as "the hero of the hills."

That same former Warner aide said several months ago that he's working on a new ditty for Edwards.

Birthday bashing

Larry Sabato -- University of Virginia political analyst and human quote machine -- was the target of a roast last week in Richmond. Considering how many politicos he's skewered over the years, some would say it's about time.

Sabato is a professor at U.Va. and director of its Center for Politics (motto: "Politics Is a Good Thing!"), as well as a common source for reporters seeking clarity on the vagaries of state government. And he frequently lands on the national news. The Wall Street Journal has called him "the most quoted college professor in the land."

The roast on Monday night was a combination fund-raiser and 50th-birthday celebration for Sabato. It raised $166,000 for the center and left Sabato feeling much older than 50, we're told. Considering the celebrity roasters, that's hardly a surprise. Gov. Mark R. Warner was there, as well as state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine and both Virginia senators, George Allen and John Warner. The emcee was former Gov. Doug Wilder.

Sources said the only guy who bombed was the guest of honor. "The worst speaker, by far, was Sabato," the source said with a satisfied laugh.

Actually, the source was Sabato himself.

Exploiting a political leak

Getting excited about the coming election doesn't require a glitzy commercial, a 12-point plan or a sex scandal. Apparently, it doesn't even require a person.

At the College of William and Mary, a leaky roof and other lagging maintenance projects have kindled an activist spark quite nicely.

W&M students recently registered 722 of their classmates as new voters in time for the Nov. 5 election. The students -- members of a recently formed political action committee, or PAC -- said this was an easy sell.

That's because the Nov. 5 ballot includes a proposal that would authorize $900 million in state borrowing for campus renovations statewide, including $61 million for W&M. The problems at the school have been well- documented, and the students turned that to their advantage.

Want to fix that leaky roof? Register and vote.

"If you make it tangible," William Blake said, "students are interested."

Brian Cannon, who chairs the PAC, said students raised $12,000 in the process.

"We did the exact opposite of what political action committees usually do," Cannon explained. "We went to the General Assembly members for money. We asked them to put their money where their mouth is, and they certainly did.

"We went to business leaders and community leaders who were interested in higher education. Now we've got a decent-sized war chest to go out and let voters in Virginia know that higher education is important, and our PAC can hopefully make a difference."

The William and Mary PAC was honored last week for registering the most voters of all four-year schools during voter drives that began in mid-September. The 722 students represent about 20 percent of the school's enrollment.

Students at Danville Area Community College registered 187 students, or more than 8 percent of their student body, to grab first place among community colleges.

The students were honored by Foundation 2002, the group urging passage of the borrowing package. The foundation also supports passage of a second ballot question to authorize $119 million in borrowing for state parks and recreation projects.

Hugh Lessig can be reached at (804) 225-7345 or by e-mail at hlessig@dailypress.com Terry Scanlon can be reached at 247-7821 or by e-mail at tscanlon@dailypress.com